Sheets of resinous composition have found widespread use as decorative and wear-resistant coverings for a wide range of products. Such sheets, for example, are used extensively as wall, floor and table coverings, book covers, decorative containers, as fabrics for use as upholstery, clothing and automobile interiors, and the like. In many instances, the resinous composition sheets are applied or formed on backings such as woven fabrics, paper, felt, metal, wood, glass, and the like. These backing materials have many purposes, the most common being added strength and serviceability. It is common practice to emboss the surface of such sheets to give added decorative appeal and, in many instances, further utility. Typical of the types of embossings are those which simulate leather or textured cloth, such as linen. In some instances, the embossed areas are filled in with pigmented ink by techniques known as "spanishing" or "valley printing." Designs have also been printed on the surface of resinous composition sheets and, in many instances, the designs have been protected by the application of a transparent or translucent overcoating.
The introduction of cellular resinous compositions has led to their incorporation in products such as recited above, either alone, or in combination with non-cellular resinous composition surface wear layers and/or backing webs. The cellular foam sheet gives the product various desirable properties, depending on the type of cellular foam, such as high resiliency and good feel or "hand."
A major source of competition for smooth surface floor coverings is from woven or tufted soft surface carpeting. Carpeting is not only soft and comfortable under foot, but also has a three-dimensional textured appearance which is particularly attractive. Products which incorporate the desirable characteristics of both soft and smooth surface coverings have been produced. For example, a product has been produced by printing a design on a textured backing, such as embossed flooring felt, with a thermoplastic resinous composition containing a foaming agent and thereafter heating the printed design to fuse the resinous composition and foam the thermoplastic composition. The resulting product closely simulates woven or tufted carpet having a three-dimensional surface caused by the embossing and a resilient character caused by the foam as well as a unitary easily cleaned surface. In view of these advantages, products of the latter description are a desired commodity.